The highly-anticipated show The Acolyte is coming out on June 4th, 2024 with a two-episode premiere. This is a breakdown of the brand new trailer!
What We Know About The Acolyte
The Acolyte will be more centered around the antagonist’s perspective. It takes place one hundred years before The Phantom Menace.
The show will feature a total of eight episodes. The directors involved in this project are Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), Kogonada (Columbus, After Yang), Alex Garcia Lopez (The Witcher, Daredevil, The Punisher), Hanelle Culpepper (Westworld, Star Trek: Picard, The Flash, Gotham). Headland is also the creator and showrunner of the show. Michael Abels is the composer of the score.
Leslie Headland, Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers; Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim, and Rob Bredow are producing.
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-Jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
The official description of the show states the following: “An investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past. As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems…”
What’s The High Republic
Before getting into the details of the official trailer, you must learn a little bit about the High Republic.
Star Wars: The High Republic is a multi-platform publishing project with books and comics for all ages. This era lasted from 500 BBY to 100 BBY, it was a time of expansion, exploration, and prosperity. It is also said to be the golden age for the Jedi Order.
The High Republic is divided into three phases. Phase I introduced the first stories of this era back in 2021 with Light of the Jedi.
Phase II goes back 150 years before Phase I and explores the origin story of the Nihil, the main antagonists of this period. Phase III began in 2024 with The Eye of Darkness and it will continue throughout 2024 and 2025.
This era is filled with Jedi, conflict, brave heroes, complex villains, and a lot of tragedy. If you like Star Wars but want something unique and fresh that has nothing to do with anyone named Skywalker, the High Republic is for you.
If you wish to learn more about the High Republic, you can check our High Republic catalog and reading guide.
Who are these High Republic characters
Most of the characters that appear in the trailer are new, but here’s what we know about them so far.
Mae
Mae is played by Amanda Stenblerg, she is a former Padawan who has gone through a dark path since her days as a student of the Force. She’s the little girl who says “I see fire” during the meditation session of the younglings with Master Sol.
Sol
Played by Lee Jung-jae, Sol is a powerful Jedi Master who is conflicted by his emotions.
Qimir
Played by Manny Jacinto, Qimir used to be a smuggler but now makes a living as a trader. He enjoys having a calm life.
Kelnacca
Played by Joonas Suotamo, who previously played Chewbacca in the sequel trilogy. Kelnacca is a Jedi Master who likes to spend his time in solitude. There aren’t many Jedi Wookiees, even during the High Republic era, I wonder if he’s somehow related to Burryaga.
Jecki
Played by Dafne Keen, Jecki is the current Padawan of Master Sol. Despite being young, she conducts herself as a much more mature Jedi.
Yord
Played by Charlie Barnett, Yord is someone who has achieved a lot in a short period of time. He needs to be a by-the-book Jedi Knight, sometimes this can cloud his judgment.
Indara
Played by Carrie-Anne Moss, Indara is a Jedi Master with great physical and mental prowess.
Mother Aniseya
Played by Jodie Turner-Smith, Mother Aniseya is the leader of a coven of Witches. They value their independence as well as the preservation of their beliefs and powers. She reminds me of “The Mother”, the leader of a cult called The Path of the Open Hand. This cult would eventually evolve into the Nihil, a group that brought the Jedi and Republic to their knees
“This isn’t about good or bad, this is about power and who is allowed to use it”. While making a good observation, I think this mi
Vernestra Rwoh “Vern”
Played by Rebecca Henderson. The most well-known character in the trailer is without a doubt Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh. This Mirialan is the former Padawan of Jedi Master Stellan Gios.
She wields a purple-bladed lightsaber that can change into a lightwip. “Vern” first appeared in the book “Light of the Jedi”.
She’s one of the lucky ones who survived the destruction of the Starlight Beacon and the subsequent expansion of Marchion Ro’s occlusion zone.
We have a thorough overview of Vernestra’s character and history. She plays a smaller role in the TV Show, but is an important character in several other stories from The High Republic.
Plo Koon?
One of the scenes includes eight Jedi staring at what I think is the forest of Kashyyyk. But as cool as that is, it’s not the most important part of said moment. One of the Jedi is a Kel Dor, a species that is very distinguishable from the rest.
The most notable Jedi of this species is Plo Koon, but it could also be Sha Koon, Plo Koon’s niece. Kel Dors can live for hundreds of years, so it’s more than possible that this Jedi could be either Plo Koon or Sha Koon.
Prepare To See Many Lightsabers
During the High Republic era, the Jedi Order was different from what we saw in the prequel trilogy. One of the most visible differences is that the Jedi carried different lightsabers. Crossguard, double-bladed, single-blade, whips, or even shields.
Such a variety of weapons also comes with lots of color variations. Green, blue, yellow, orange, purple and even white lightsabers aren’t uncommon in this era. The only color that Jedi don’t use in their weapons is red but this is due to the process that requires “bleeding” the kyber crystal, which is against the Jedi way.
With so many different types of weapons and a different era that had fewer restrictions, I think we can expect to see different combat styles and weapons that haven’t appeared in mainstream Star Wars.
We’re Going To Every Corner Of The Galaxy
The galaxy is huge, with thousands of planets, species, cultures, and beliefs. One of the things that I’ve always enjoyed most about Star Wars is when we’re shown different places and everything that this involves.
Even if it’s just for a few seconds, the trailer shows the Jedi Temple at Coruscant, a rusty cantina in the middle of a town, what I think are the dangerous forests of Kashyyyk, a planet with a snowstorm, and even an island that resembles Ahch-To.
After watching the trailer, I have no doubt that we’ll get to explore many different places. Some might be familiar but many will be new.
One thing that I must point out is that it doesn’t look like The Volume is being used, at least not in any scene of the trailer. If this assumption is right, then the possibility of having better scenes increases. Andor is the perfect example of how building the actual sets enhances the experience for the actors and this is translated to the audience.
A Sith Acolyte
A Sith Acolyte is someone who is learning to use the dark side of the Force, this is done under the training of a more experienced Sith. This term was popular during the Old Republic era when many Acolytes competed against each other to earn the right to study with a Sith Lord. Even if the approach is completely opposite, you could say that Sith Acolyte is a rank equivalent to Jedi Padawan.
The biggest question of the trailer is, who is this person wielding a red-bladed lightsaber who is capable of overpowering many Jedi, including Master Sol?
Sheev Palpatine hasn’t been born yet but the plot to destroy the Jedi began way before Palpatine was even a part of the scheme.
I can only think of Darth Tenebrous (not to be mistaken with Tenebrae), and Darth Plagueis. Why only them? because the Rule of Two has been enforced for centuries and both of them are alive at this point in time.
The Rule of Two was created after the Sith were almost wiped out by the Jedi, this happened due to the weakened state of the Sith after many centuries of constant battle for internal power.
To prevent this from happening again, Darth Bane created The Rule of Two. This would ensure that only the strongest carry the legacy of all previous Sith.
“There should only be two, no more, no less. One to embody power, the other one to crave it.” – Darth Bane
There’s always the possibility of Disney changing the canon “in favor” of the story, but at least we won’t have to wait much before finding out.
